Louisville reaches 100 homicides after man found shot in vacant home in Shelby Park

Louisville reached 100 criminal homicides Tuesday after a man was found shot in a vacant home in Shelby Park.

Officers were called to the 700 block of Camp Street around 4 p.m. Tuesday with reports of a man down inside a residence, according to a news release from Louisville Metro Police spokeswoman Alicia Smiley.

As of Wednesday morning, Louisville Metro Police Department has investigated 100 criminal homicides, according to a Courier Journal count.

Two additional homicides have been investigated by Shively Police, while Jeffersontown and St. Matthews police departments have each investigated a homicide - bringing the county-wide total to 104.

This is only the second time in Louisville Metro Police's nearly 15-year history that homicides have reached triple digits. Last year, there were 117 homicides in Louisville Metro. The previous peak was 80 in 2015.

Before that, the last time Louisville saw more than 100 homicides was in 1976, more than 30 years ago.

Homicides have been seen in all parts of Louisville this year, ranging from Shawnee and Portland to Waterfront Park and Cherokee Triangle. Homicide victims have ranged in age, from 3 months to 61 years old.

But the city is not on pace to surpass last year's mark as the bloodiest year on record.

Homicides have dipped in the past few months and fallen behind last year's pace, despite initial indications the city was in for another horrific, record-setting year.

During a press conference this summer with Louisville Police Chief Steve Conrad, Mayor Greg Fischer said that opioids were at the center of the rising homicide numbers.

"When we look at all these crime numbers we have to keep in mind that opioids, especially as it relates to homicides, we feel like are at the root of a lot of these issues," Fischer said.

Fischer said while homicides have risen, violent crime is decreasing.

Property crime has dropped by 11 percent and violent crime by about 4 percent in some neighborhoods, including downtown Louisville. Conrad said shootings are down by about 18 percent this year.

Outside of homicide, Louisville is "headed in the right direction for every category of crime," Fischer said this summer.

But those who have lost loved ones to violent crime in 2017 find it hard to be optimistic about the state of violence in Louisville.

Misty Tweedy's son Jericho Moore was found shot in an alleyway in the Parkland neighborhood in June.

"Every time I look at the news and see another person dead, I cry," Tweedy told Courier Journal in September. "I haven't found peace with my son's death, and I know there isn't peace in this city either. Put the guns down. You can't wake up from this nightmare."